One Night With My Alpha Professor by Eve Above Story

Chapter 139

078% Audrey

Edwin and I only stood a few feet apart on the bridge, but it felt like miles. The cool night air nipped at my exposed skin, and I pulled my red cape a bit tighter around me, although it felt more like armor than to ward off the chill.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, staring at his outstretched hand. "It's not our weekly... meeting."

Edwin's eyes, visible through the slits in his wolf mask, softened. The yellow glow I had noticed earlier seemed to dim slightly as he dropped his hand back to his side.

"That's precisely why I came looking for you tonight, Audrey," he said.

I felt my heart stutter at those words. He had come, even when he said he wouldn't. He had come.... for me.

But Fiona's words clanged through my head, ricocheting like silver bullets off the inside of my skull.

Manipulator..

I didn't want to believe her. I knew I shouldn't believe her. But despite my reservations, her words had made me... wary.

"Why?" was all I said.

He sighed, his shoulders slumping slightly. "I felt terrible about last week. I never meant to make it seem like I only wanted. to see you in private, or that our relationship was just "h**king up. And I certainly never wanted to see you cry. Seeing you upset like that... It broke my heart. I'm so sorry."

His words stung. The memory of that night in our secret room flooded back, along with the hurt and confusion that had followed.

Then why did you make me cry?" I asked, my voice hardly more than a whisper.

Edwin flinched as if I had struck him. Even with the mask covering most of his face, I could see the pain in his eyes. "I was afraid of what might happen if Fiona saw us in public. If anything happened to you because of me, I... I couldn't handle it

I swallowed hard, processing his words. "So... it wasn't just h**king up in your eyes?" I asked, hating how small and vulnerable my voice sounded.

"No, Audrey. Never." Edwin took a step closer, his voice taking on a more urgent tone. That*** scent washed over me, and I wanted to run to him, but I controlled myself.

my thoughts. "I never meant it that way," he continued. "I thought... I thought that was how you saw it. But for me, it's been so much more. Hearing you say it out loud-that you thought, maybe even hoped, that it was a relationship-just made jumbled. My words didn't come out the way I mean them to."

My heart raced even faster as he continued, "I care for you deeply, Audrey. I want you to be my girlfriend. I... I love you." I felt like I might collapse, but I remained silent, waiting, watching. He paused, his eyes locked onto mine. I could see the sincerity in them, the vulnerability. There was that yellow glow again, faint and flickering like a candle in those gray depths.

face in all of its square-jawed and stubbled glory, his black hair tousled as if he had been nervously tugging at it all week, "then I would be shouting

09:30 Thu, Sep 19

Chapter 139

another

would like to ask

girlfriend."

"Your... girlfriend..."

78%a

П

clarified, although his voice sounded pained. "Until we can safely be

froze, suddenly feeling overwhelmed by his confession. My heart felt fuller than ever, and part of me wanted to throw

tip of my tongue. But Fiona's

Fated mate... He's always done

I trusted Edwin. My Edwin. My shield, my

louder, more terrified part of me didn't know who to believe, what to say, what to do. The conflict tore at me, and

Edwin held his hand out for me

eyes built, but I held it

true that Fiona is your

Edwin's eyes

his body tensing. "What? Of course not. Who

Fiona tonight," I explained. "She told me you

"Audrey, I told you not to listen to her. She's

I said quietly, looking down at the worn wooden planks of the bridge beneath my feet. "But hearing those words, 'fated mate; it. It opened my eyes to something I've been avoiding this whole time. Something I knew all along, but I didn't want to think about it. I figured if I ignored it then it would go away, but It didn't. It won't. It

voice was

I swallowed hard.

me by ten years, Edwin. That's well after the time most people find their fated mate." I looked up, staring

closer, his hand reaching out yet again. Audrey, I don't care about that. You

as I did that was almost too much

find your fated mate, and it can't be me.It could never be me." My voice cracked as I continued, those hot, salty tears finally spilling over. "And then what

Audrey-

thrown to the wayside, forgotten," I said bitterly. "And no one will pity me because it's

Thu, Sep 19

Chapter 139